French, Edwin Davis, 1851-1906 :[Bookplates made by the artist Edwin Davis French for various persons, collected by David Graham. 19-- - 1950s].

Arranged in boxes alphabetically according to the name of the person for whom the plate was made.

Contains plates made for:

William Loring Andrews (full text reads "Ex Libris; William Loring Andrews; Victrix Fortunae Sapientia; E. D. French sc. 1894"; bookplate also includes an inset of a waterside colony entitled "Nieuw Amsterdam; 1640", a Greek coin and several books including "The compleat angler" and "Essays of Elia")

W E Baillie (1894. Includes motto "major virtus quam splendor", and an inset picturing a castle upon a hill, possibly Edinburgh Castle)

Henry C Bernheim (1904)

Edward Hale Bierstadt (1894. Includes motto "Nunc Mihi Mox Aliis" and pictures a boy with a flute and a lamb or sheep, 2 theatrical masks, and books which include the titles "Waller" and "Donne")

W K Bixby (1906. Bookplate features unusual illustration of an octopus, apparently swimming in a sea of books)

Henry Blackwell (1894. Includes the text "y ddraig goch a ddyry gychwyn", an inset of a castle on a hill overlooking a body of water, and several books with the titles "Bookplates, Warren"; "Cambrian Bibliography, Rowlands"; "Modern Bookbinding, Matthews"; "History of Cambria, Powell". Another inset features a workshop and workers, possibly a bookbindery)

Harriet Blair Borland (1895)

Sidney Ernest Bradshaw (1898)

Helen Elvira Brainerd (1893)

William Augustus Brewer (1903. Includes motto "pro deo et patria. Also included is a shield bearing stars and stripes reminiscent of American pageantry and an inset of a church with ivy covered walls)

Beverly Chew (1894. Includes motto "esto quod, esse videris")

Charles E Clark ({M.D.} 1894. 2 bookplates)

Richard B Coutant (1894. Includes motto "forte et fidele", a microscope, and various books with the titles "Medicine", "History of New York", "Washington Irving", "The Huguenot", "Major Andre", "Autographs"[possibly Auto Graphs], "American Revolution" and "Microscopy")

The Denver Club (pictured is a person in an armchair before a hearth, smoking cigars, drinking wine and reading a paper)

James William Ellsworth (1895)

Charles B Foote (1894. The bookplate features prominently a medallion or coin with a portrait of Nathaniel Hawthorn upon it; also includes a quote from Barclay's "Ship of Fools" which reads "Still I am busy books assembling, For to have plentie it is a pleasaunt thing"; also includes a burning oil lamp and several books, with the titles "Tennyson", "Poe", "Gossip in a library", "Evangeline" and "Essays of Elia")

Mary Brainerd French (1893)

Jonathan Godfrey (1894. Of "Fairfield, Conn", presumably Fairfield, Connecticut. Includes motto "Deus et Libertas")

James A Goldsmith

The Grolier Club (1894. Note from collector reads "Grolier Club, The New York; Founded 1884 ... An elaborate bookplate design representing the arts of paper-making, printing & bookbinding ...". Also mentions Jean Grolier, the French bibliophile after whom the club was named. The bookplate also includes a medallion or coin with a portrait of Nathaniel Hawthorne upon it and several books, with the titles "English writers, 1894", "Philobiblon, 1889", "Bookbinding" and "Laws and Acts, Bradford")

Louis I Haber (pictures a man reading beside a fire, beside him a sleeping dog, and includes the text "My silent but faithful friends are they" [note; the poorer quality of the engraving and paper and difference of style suggest that this plate may not be by E D French and has possibly been misplaced at some stage)

The John Crerar Library (1896. Full text reads "Great is the gift that bringeth knowledge; Non est mortuus qui scientiam vivificavit, Ptolemaeus; The John Crerar Library, Chicago; 1894")

Georgia Medora Lee (1904. Includes text "In my library I find a friend for every mood")

Marshall Clifford Lefferts (1894. Includes motto "nulla vestigia retrorsum". Note attached from collector reads "Lefferts, Marshall Clifford of N.Y. City")

Richard Southcote Manserch (1895. Of Friarsfield, Tipperary. Includes motto "Tout jour pret")

Maria Gerard Messenger (2 bookplates; 1 from 1895 includes what may be replicas of other bookplates bearing the names "Epes Sargent" and "David Garrick"; another from 1896 includes the text "dono, hunc, librum, dedi" and an open book of sheet music with the title "Adeste Fideles"))

Library of the Metropolitan Museum of Art ({New York City} 1895. Space is provided on bookplate for the names of book donors, "Presented by ...")

A J Morgan (1896. Insets feature portraits of 4 authors; also illustrated in bookplate are books by these authors "Pavline" by Browning, "Lamb's tales from Shakespeare", "Vanity Fair" by Thackeray, and "Poem of 2 brothers" by Tennyson)

Lowell Melvin Palmer (1904. Includes motto "palma virtuti")

Eva Snow Smith Prescott (1898. Includes motto "pensa che questo di mai non raggiorna". Bookplate features portrait of a child, possibly the owner)

M Taylor Pyne (1897)

Queen's University ({Kingston Canada} 1905. Includes motto "sapientia et doctrina stabilitas" and pictures a large building with a square turret as the prominent feature)

Harriette M Stevens (1905. Bookplate depicts a wilderness scene with the motto "Lead us out of the narrow life, to the peace of the hills and skies")

Katherine Cecil Sanford Thorne (1896)

Vassar Alumnae Historical Association (date of bookplate printing, 1898; date attached to the association, 1896. Pictured is a oil lamp and flame and several books, bearing the titles "Force's Tracts", "Hutchinson", "Prince Society", "Virginia Historical Collections" and "Jesuit Relations")

Beverley Warner ({M.A.} 1894. Features an open book titled "M. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories & Tragedies; London 1623", and other books on a shelf with the titles "Hall", "Holinshed" and "Plutatien Lives" [? this final title is illegible on the bookplate]

Henry Rogers Winthrop (1898. Includes motto "spes vincit thronum")

John Page Woodbury (bookplate features a study, an inset of a seaside town and several books which bear the titles "The Complete Angler", "Knights Shakespeare", "De Bury {Grolier Club}", "Dibden", "Annals of the English Stage, Dorain", "The Token", "The Bijou", "John Woodbury, 1624", "Horace Walpole", "Pickwick Papers", "Women ... Louis XV", "Leigh Hunt" and "Scott". Amongst the books there is further illustrated a portrait on paper with the initials illegible, possibly "G C K" or "G Ck". On the back of the mounting paper the collector has noted "Portrait of George Cruikshank", presumably referring to this)

Quantity: 40 b&w art print(s) on bookplates..

Physical Description: Engravings, etchings

Provenance: Donated by David Graham in the 1950s.